Fury as Petition to Undo Brexit and Rejoin EU Passes Major Milestone – ‘We’ve Had Enough’
A fresh campaign to take Britain back towards the European Union has reignited the Brexit debate, with thousands of people signing a parliamentary petition calling for negotiations to begin on rejoining the EU.
The latest figures show that the appetite for reversing Brexit has not disappeared, even though the Government has ruled out rejoining the bloc. One current petition, titled “Start negotiations now to Rejoin the EU,” has passed 3,800 signatures and remains open until December 24, 2026.
The campaign comes after a much larger petition earlier this year attracted more than 111,000 signatures, crossing the threshold required for consideration by Parliament.
That petition, which called for Britain to apply to rejoin the EU “as soon as possible” to increase economic growth, closed on June 8 after collecting 111,687 signatures. Because it passed 100,000 signatures, the House of Commons Petitions Committee agreed that it should be considered for a parliamentary debate.
For Brexit opponents, the numbers represent an important political milestone.
For Brexit supporters, however, they are evidence of an attempt to reopen a question that voters already settled in the 2016 referendum.
The argument is clearly nowhere near finished.
“We’ve Had Enough”
The latest push to reopen the question of EU membership comes as Britain reaches the tenth anniversary of the referendum that transformed the country’s politics.
In June 2016, voters chose to leave the European Union by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%.
A decade later, the political consequences of that decision remain at the centre of arguments about Britain’s economy, immigration, trade and relationship with Europe.
Supporters of rejoining argue that the costs of Brexit have become increasingly visible.
The petition that attracted 111,687 signatures explicitly claimed that Brexit had weakened trade and economic growth and argued that Britain should seek to reverse what its organisers described as the damage caused by leaving the EU.
Its supporters point to increased paperwork for exporters, new barriers to trade and the loss of freedom of movement as reasons for changing course.
The message behind the campaign is straightforward: Britain has tried life outside the EU, and an increasing number of people now believe the experiment should be reversed.
That sentiment is particularly visible among younger voters, many of whom were too young to vote in 2016 or have come of age since Brexit.
The Petition Has Already Crossed the Key Threshold
The significance of the campaign is not simply the number of people who have signed it.
Under the UK Parliament’s petition system, a petition that receives 10,000 signatures normally receives a Government response, while one that reaches 100,000 signatures is considered for debate in Parliament.
The previous rejoin petition achieved more than 111,000 signatures, meaning it crossed that second threshold. Parliament confirmed that the Petitions Committee would consider it for debate.
That does not mean Parliament is obliged to support the proposal.
It also does not mean MPs are required to vote for Britain’s return to the EU.
A parliamentary petition is a mechanism for raising an issue and encouraging political consideration, rather than a direct route to changing government policy.
Nevertheless, crossing 100,000 signatures provides campaigners with something politically valuable: an official platform inside Westminster.
It allows supporters to demonstrate that the issue has attracted substantial public interest.
Government Says Britain Will Not Rejoin
The biggest obstacle for the campaign is the Government itself.
In its formal response to the 111,687-signature petition, the Government said explicitly that the UK will not be rejoining the European Union.
Instead, ministers pointed to the post-Brexit “reset” of relations with Brussels.
The Government said Britain had chosen to remain outside the EU while negotiating closer cooperation in areas including trade, energy, security and education.
That distinction is crucial.
The Government’s position is essentially that Britain can obtain some of the benefits of closer European cooperation without reversing Brexit.
It argues that the UK’s position outside the EU provides flexibility while allowing ministers to reduce unnecessary barriers with European neighbours.
The Government also highlighted the 2025 UK-EU summit and subsequent agreements covering areas such as sanitary and phytosanitary rules, electricity trading and emissions trading.
According to the Government’s own assessment, those measures could add nearly £9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040.
For ministers, this is the preferred alternative to rejoining.
Brexit Supporters Fight Back
The rejoin campaign has inevitably triggered a backlash among Brexit supporters.
They argue that the referendum result remains valid and that politicians should concentrate on making Brexit work rather than attempting to reverse it.
That argument has particular relevance for Reform UK and Nigel Farage.
Farage built much of his political career around Britain’s departure from the EU and remains one of the most prominent advocates of maintaining Brexit.
A serious political campaign to rejoin the EU would therefore represent a direct challenge to one of the defining achievements of Farage’s political movement.
Reform supporters are likely to argue that Brexit itself is not responsible for every economic difficulty Britain faces.
They also point to the fact that Britain has been able to sign new trade agreements independently and negotiate its own international relationships.
The Government’s own response to the petition similarly argues that Brexit provides flexibility to pursue agreements with countries outside the EU while maintaining a closer strategic relationship with Europe.
The Economy Is at the Heart of the Argument
Economic performance remains the strongest argument used by both sides.
Those campaigning to rejoin the EU argue that Brexit has created unnecessary barriers between Britain and its largest nearby trading partner.
The 111,687-signature petition cited Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, arguing that the UK’s Brexit trade arrangements would reduce long-run productivity by around 4% because of increased non-tariff barriers.
The petition’s supporters therefore believe the economic case for rejoining will become stronger over time.
But the Government disputes the idea that returning to the EU is necessary for growth.
Ministers argue that the new UK-EU partnership can reduce trade barriers while allowing Britain to remain outside the bloc.
That creates a fundamental political choice.
Should Britain attempt to rebuild its relationship with Europe from outside?
Or should it ultimately seek full membership again?
Rejoining Would Not Simply Mean Turning the Clock Back
There is another important complication.
Even if a future British government decided that it wanted to rejoin the EU, it could not simply cancel Brexit and restore the UK’s previous membership overnight.
The UK would have to apply for membership and negotiate with the EU.
The terms of any future accession would be subject to negotiation with the member states and EU institutions.
Britain could therefore find that rejoining came with conditions different from those it enjoyed before Brexit.
Questions surrounding the euro, Schengen, budget contributions, free movement and other areas would have to be considered.
That is one reason why the current campaign is better understood as a call to begin negotiations rather than an immediate demand for Britain to become an EU member again.
The current open petition explicitly calls for negotiations to start.
The Debate Is Already Changing
Perhaps the most significant development is that the language surrounding Britain’s relationship with Europe has changed.
For several years after the referendum, discussion largely centred on how Brexit should be implemented.
Now an increasingly visible political movement is asking whether Brexit should ultimately be reversed.
That does not mean Britain is about to rejoin the EU.
The Government’s position remains firmly against membership.
But the existence of a petition attracting more than 100,000 signatures demonstrates that rejoining is no longer purely a theoretical discussion.
There are now organised campaigners prepared to make the case publicly.
There are also voters who believe that the economic and practical consequences of Brexit have changed their minds.
A New Generation Has a Different View
One of the most important factors behind the rejoin movement is generational change.
The people who were teenagers or children during the 2016 referendum are now adults.
Many young Britons have spent their formative years outside the EU and have experienced restrictions on travel, work and study that did not exist before Brexit.
Supporters of rejoining argue that younger generations should have a greater say in Britain’s future relationship with Europe.
Opponents respond that democracy cannot work by repeatedly rerunning referendums whenever public opinion changes.
This tension is likely to remain central to the debate.
A referendum settles a question at a particular point in time.
It does not necessarily prevent future governments from changing policy.
But the political legitimacy of reversing such a major constitutional decision would depend heavily on public support.
Another Petition Is Already Underway
The fact that another rejoin petition is currently open shows that campaigners are not treating the 111,687-signature petition as the end of the story.
The new petition calling for negotiations to begin has already attracted thousands of signatures and remains open until December 24, 2026.
There are also other petitions dealing with Britain’s relationship with the EU.
One petition calling for a referendum on rejoining the EU closed in June after receiving 2,885 signatures, while another open petition calling for a rejoin referendum had fewer than 300 signatures when Parliament’s latest figures were recorded.
The numbers vary dramatically, but collectively they show that Brexit remains a live issue.
What Happens Next?
The immediate political impact of the campaign is likely to be limited.
The Government has already rejected the idea of rejoining the EU.
The current political priority is instead to strengthen cooperation with Brussels without restoring full membership.
But political circumstances can change.
A future government could take a different view.
Public opinion could continue moving towards closer European integration.
Economic conditions could strengthen the argument for reducing trade barriers.
And a new generation of voters could make the political calculation around Brexit increasingly different from that of 2016.
That is why the rejoin movement believes it has time on its side.
Brexit’s Final Chapter Has Not Been Written
Ten years after the referendum, Britain’s argument over Europe remains remarkably emotional.
For Brexit supporters, leaving the EU was a historic act of national self-government.
For those campaigning to rejoin, it was a decision whose consequences have become increasingly difficult to justify.
The latest petition milestone gives the second group renewed momentum.
More than 111,000 people have already signed a parliamentary petition calling for Britain to seek EU membership again, triggering consideration for a parliamentary debate.
A separate petition is now gathering signatures for negotiations to begin.
That does not mean Britain is about to rejoin.
Indeed, the Government has explicitly said that it will not pursue membership.
But the political significance lies elsewhere.
The question that once appeared settled is back on the national agenda.
For Nigel Farage and Reform UK, that could become a major political battleground.
For Labour and other parties seeking closer relations with Europe, it offers an opportunity to argue that Brexit should be reconsidered.
And for millions of voters, the issue remains deeply personal.
After a decade of arguments over trade, immigration, sovereignty and economic performance, Britain is still asking itself the same fundamental question:
Was Brexit the beginning of a new British future—or a decision that the country will eventually decide to undo?
The latest petition suggests that, for a significant number of people, the answer is increasingly clear.